


Wherever You Lead

by struggling_writer



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, But it will have a happy ending, F/M, POV Second Person, it’s just really angsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2019-10-11 00:26:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 21,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17436365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/struggling_writer/pseuds/struggling_writer
Summary: After Loki falls off the bifrost, you don’t know what to do with yourself. Little do you know that he’s still alive, and your paths are fated to cross again.TW: chapter one mentions Loki’s first “death” as a form of suicide (because Asgard doesn’t know that Loki is alive) and the reader has brief suicidal thoughts. It doesn’t go into detail because I know that mental illness is nothing to joke about and needs to be handled extremely maturely, and I don’t want to misrepresent people who are struggling with mental illness and/or suicidal thoughts. I just want everyone to be aware that it is mentioned.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> TW: chapter one mentions Loki’s first “death” as a form of suicide (because Asgard doesn’t know that Loki is alive) and the reader has brief suicidal thoughts. It doesn’t go into detail because I know that mental illness is nothing to joke about and needs to be handled extremely maturely, and I don’t want to misrepresent people who are struggling with mental illness and/or suicidal thoughts. I just want everyone to be aware that it is mentioned.
> 
> If you don’t want to read it, stop at “‘How dare you?!’”

Loki had fallen off the bifrost. _Your_ _Loki_. The one who had voiced his insecurities to you. Who had broke down sobbing in front of you when it all became too much. Who had whispered ‘I love you’ not even three days before.

And now he was gone.

Odin didn’t even give him a proper funeral, so you, Frigga, and Thor huddled together one night and shared a soft prayer for the fallen prince. You sulked around the palace in the following weeks. You hardly ate or slept. It felt wrong that you were still in Asgard when your best friend wasn’t. Thor was trying his best to help and support you, but he was also working through his own grief at the same time, and you could tell he wasn’t ready to take on the grief of two people.

So you distracted yourself with work. You had already been training to become a warrior with Sif, but now you added full-time court and magic lessons on top of that. You went to bed every night completely and utterly exhausted, but most nights you still couldn’t find sleep. The exhaustion just tended to pile up for days before you ended up passing out somewhere. By now, everyone was prepared for you to drop at any moment and deliver your unconscious form back to your quarters.

“Are you sure you’re alright? It’s been almost a week since you last slept properly,” Sif was always one to voice her concerns when it came to you. You swallowed back a growl and darted forward, landing a flurry of blows up her arms.

“I told you, I’m fine. Now fight me for real!” Sif still looked concerned, but she recognized that you weren’t going to back down anytime soon. She sighed and swung her sword around a couple times, loosening up her muscles. You retook your fighting stance, wanting to hold off on using your lance for as long as possible. You were able to keep up with Sif for the majority of the session, matching her blow for blow, before you finally ripped the pendant from your necklace and let it grow to its full size in your hand.

You spun around, lashing out to deliver a multitude of cuts and scrapes in the chinks of Sif’s armour. She fell down on one knee soon after you pulled out your weapon and you took the opportunity to press the edge of your blade against her throat. “You’re getting sloppy,” you panted.

“No,” she corrected, “you’re getting better. If you weren’t so stubborn, I would have declared the end of your apprenticeship weeks ago. You’ve more than earned it.” You just scoffed and shrunk your lance back down to a pendant, clipping it onto the chain around your neck. “I’m serious. And don’t argue with me because I’ve already spoken with Odin and we are conducting the ceremony within the month.” She paused for a moment before gently grabbing your wrist and adding, “I know you wanted Loki to be there, but you have to accept the fact that he’s gone.”

You yanked your wrist away and snarled at her. “I said I’m _fine_. I have a magic lesson to get to. See you later.” You pretended not to see Sif’s worried gaze as you whipped around and stalked away.

A year after Loki fell, everyone had moved on in their own way except for you. It still burned just as much as the day he left. “Lady (Y/N), are you alright?” Thor asked as you walked through the gardens. “I know today is the anniversary of… you know… Just, know that I’m here if you need me.”

You smiled sadly at the prince before responding. “Thank you, Thor. I’m just planning to visit where it happened. Nothing big, and I’ve made sure that I don’t have any lessons or training today. I’m taking care of myself.” That last part was a lie. You hadn’t taken care of yourself in a year. It was true that you were planning on visiting the bifrost, but you were also planning on casting a silencing spell around you and letting out every ounce of pain you had kept in for the last year.

Thor seemed satisfied with your answer, and he left to probably talk with Sif. You slowly gathered a few of Loki’s favorite flowers, gently tying them together with a green silk ribbon. The walk to the bifrost was too long, and by the time you reached the end, you were already sobbing softly. You cast the silencing spell as fast as you could and gripped the flowers in an ironclad grip. “How dare you?!” You shouted all of your pain into the abyss. “How _dare_ you leave me here?! How dare you take the cowards’ way out?! I was here for you! I wanted to help you!” Tears were rolling down your cheeks as a year of repressed emotion came tumbling out.

“ _You_ _said_ _you_ _loved_ _me_!”

You took a step closer to the edge, contemplating. No. No, you wouldn’t follow in Loki’s footsteps. You weren’t sure what had replaced your sadness, but whatever it was buzzed just below your skin, urging you to let your energy out on something. You just needed something to keep your hands occupied. You took a step back, your foot slipping on one of the blooms of the bouquet you hadn’t know that you had dropped. Your heart stopped as you lost your balance and slid over, cutting your leg on the jagged unfixed edge of the bifrost. You grabbed widely in a desperate attempt to save yourself.

You said you weren’t going to follow Loki.

Apparently fate had other plans.


	2. Chapter 2

You fell straight down into the abyss, not even bothering to scream. The silencing spell had been cast to block cries twice as loud your as your own, anyway. Your eyes fluttered shut as tears rolled down your cheeks. This isn’t how you wanted it to end. You didn’t want Frigga and Thor to have to go through the heartbreak of losing another family member. Even if you weren’t an official part of the royal family, you had been adopted in at a young age and it was blatantly obvious that Loki was going to end up courting you. You hoped they wouldn’t grieve too long.

At least you would see Loki again.

That’s what you thought up until the moment your body collided with a hard stone surface. A string of colorful curses left your mouth as you felt your leg break in at least two places, if not more. You quickly conjured a rod and some strips of cloth, carefully setting the break as fast as you could. Heavy footsteps started coming towards you and you dragged yourself into the shadows. You would have preferred to change out of your court dress, but whoever it was probably sensed your magic signature from conjuring even just the pole and cloth.

They stopped right in front of your hiding place and you looked up to see a hulking purple figure. “I know that you are in here somewhere, child,” the booming voice began. “But I will not force you to reveal yourself just yet. I will have my soldier look after you until you are ready, or my patience wears thin.” With that he turned on his heel and walked back out of the room, pausing briefly to exchange words with someone before the door slid closed.

“Thanos will not be lenient for long. It is best that you reveal yourself now,” an eerily familiar silky voice purred. “He will not hesitate to demand loyalty from you, and training will be much less harsh if you submit before the titan becomes angered.” You magiked on a set of light training armor. The guy in charge - Thanos - knew you were here, anyway. “I’ve seen what he does to those who who defy him, and I do not wish for anyone else to die at his hand.”

“You sound like you’ve never killed anyone, which is odd if you’re a soldier,” you waved your fingers as you spoke, throwing your voice around to room to keep the guard from discovering exactly where you were.

“I have killed more beings than you have seen, and you will be forced to, as well,” he explained. You rearranged yourself to take any remaining pressure off of your leg as he continued. “You will be forced to fight like an animal. Each loss you suffer will result in a part of your body being replaced with machinery. Do not expect any mercy from him, he has employed this tactic even with his own daughters. I suggest that you do not lose.”

You chuckled at his weary tone. He sounded like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. “So what got you stuck here, Sexy Voice Man?”

“Sexy Voice Man?” You could hear the sarcasm and exasperation that soaked his voice. You just hummed in response. “My so-called father lied to me my whole life, the woman who I believed to be my mother did nothing about it, and my adoptive brother both figuratively and physically cast me away to this Hel-hole. I was raised to believe that I was going to ascend to the throne only for it to be revealed that I am the monster that parents tell their children about at night,” he concluded with a sigh. “That is the short version. However, now that you know my story, I believe that I am in need of yours.”

“Oh, well, it’s nothing at all like yours. I grew up as a close friend of the royal family in my realm, but a year ago the youngest of the two fell off of a bridge to his death. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but we had finally stopped dancing around our feelings after centuries of liking each other, and he had just told me that he loved me. I didn’t even get to say it back before he was gone.”

“I am very sorry for your loss, Lady…”

“(Y/N),” you replied as you dropped the spell that hid your location. Based off of what he was saying, it was in your best interest to give up now, and quite frankly, you didn’t care anymore. You heard light footsteps coming towards you as you hauled yourself up from the ground.

“Lady (Y/N). It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is-” He rounded the corner and grabbed your hand to press a kiss against the back of it. Your eyes widened as you finally saw who you had been speaking to.

“Loki!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter, but I promise they’ll start to get longer!


	3. Chapter 3

“Ah, so I see my reputation precedes me,” he said in that silky voice you never thought you would hear again.

Loki was alive.

And he was _right_ _there_. _Holding_ _your_ _hand_.

You would have thrown yourself into his arms if it hadn’t been for the look in his eye. It wasn’t anything like the look of your friend whom you had grown up with for centuries. And it sure as Hel wasn’t the look that he gave you when you had finally became a couple.

This was the look of a stranger.

You realized that you had been silent for too long, and you shook off your shock, replacing it with a coy smile. “Why, everyone in the nine realms knows of the fallen prince of Asgard. I just thought you were dead.” You added a flirtatious glance up and down, saying “Glad to see you aren’t.”

It killed you inside to act like a new person to Loki. You didn’t know what they had done to him, but you were going to find out. Not that this flirty persona would have been your first choice, but it just kinda slipped into place when you saw Loki. It seemed like you would need to radiate confidence to survive in this place, anyway. Loki smirked and spun you around, landing with your arm linked through his. “I’m glad I’m alive, as well, if it means I get to meet beauties like you.”

“Such a flirt. I thought you were a gentleman.” You let him lead you out of the room and through many winding hallways.

“Only when it benefits me, love.” Your heart did a somersault, and you thought for a brief moment that Loki might remember who you were. But when you looked at him again, mischief was the only thing written across his face. He lead you up to a pair of double doors, where he stopped and motioned for you to sit down. “It’s best to heal that leg before we go in.” You nodded and let him fix the breaks. When he was done, you hauled yourself up and took a few tentative steps.

“Thank you,” you said, your hand resting on his cheek automatically after centuries of muscle memory. It was a habit that you had picked up from Frigga, and Loki had told you that he appreciated it before, but one look at his confused expression and you snatched your hand away again. “Sorry, you just... remind me of that guy I told you about.”

Loki grabbed your hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “I’m sorry that you lost a loved one, but I am sure that he is looking on from Valhalla. You’re Asgardian, yes?” You nodded and Loki recited a quick prayer. You stifled a bittersweet chuckle. It was the same one that you, Frigga, and Thor recited for Loki’s funeral. You whispered another soft thank you and Loki offered his arm. One deep breath later and you were being escorted into Thanos’ throne room.

The Titian looked down at the pair of you, his expression completely unreadable. Loki motioned for you to stay where you were while he went to stand on the steps just below the throne. Something tugged at your brain, and you realized that it looked almost exactly like Odin’s throne room. Thanos must have searched through Loki’s memories in order to recreate it. “I see you have chosen to reveal yourself.”

You looked up and Thanos was smiling. “Yes, I thought it best. Forgive me for concealing myself before, however someone as powerful as you must understand that it is important to be skeptical of people at first.” Thanos nodded and you continued, “From what I’ve heard from your soldier, following you is just what I need.” That was a lie, you really wanted to get back to Asgard, dragging Loki along behind you, but you also needed to figure out what Thanos was planning.

And you needed to save Loki.

Thanos broke into a smile and stood up, waving Loki back down to you with one hand. “You’re smart, good girl. Loki will show you to some empty quarters. You will join the other beginners in training this afternoon.” You dipped into a curtsy before turning on a heel to follow Loki out the door. Once it had shut all the way, you let out a breath you didn’t know you had been holding in.

“Worried much?” Loki chuckled. Slightly understandably since he had been here for the past year, but that didn’t stop you from smacking him in the arm. “Ow! That wasn’t very ladylike.”

“Well you weren’t being very gentlemanly. Didn’t your mother ever tell you to treat people how you want to be treated?” You couldn’t help but feel a twinge of satisfaction at the pout Loki gave you as he rubbed the sore spot you had left on his arm.

“My mother didn’t care about me. Anything she said was most likely a lie.” That absolutely shattered your heart. Before all this shit happened, Loki always believed in the love coming from his mother. You didn’t know what had happened leading up to Loki’s fall, but whatever it was had shaken the god down to his very core. He hadn’t even mentioned you when talking about his past. The two of you finished the walk in silence until Loki abruptly stopped in front of a grey stone door. “These will be your quarters. There is another beginners training match in two hours. If you have any questions,” he conjured what looked like a gauntlet and handed it over to you, “this should have the answers.”

You thanked him before slipping it on and ducking into what would be your new home. It was incredibly barren, housing just a thin cot and chest for all the personal belongings that you didn’t have. You sighed and collapsed down onto the cot, managing to catch an hour long nap before you decided it was time to find yourself to the training arena. It ended up not being too hard to find. Everything heavily resembled Asgard, and you had a feeling that it was being catered to Loki for reasons unknown to you. You just needed to get closer to Thanos in order to figure out what he was doing.

Since you had gotten there so early, you summoned a clone of yourself, deciding to do a warm up round before you had to face the other new recruits. You sparred back and forth with the clone for a few minutes to loosen up your muscles before activating your lance to begin the real fight. You launched yourself forward, immediately cutting through a chink in the clone’s armor. It hissed in pain and you smirked, dropping down in order to sweep it’s legs out from under it.

The fight lasted until you had a small crowd of newcomers surrounding you, and by the time you had pinned the clone onto the ground, both you of were covered in a plethora of small cuts. You vanished the clone and shrank the lance back down into a pendant, giving an unnecessary bow to the spectators. When you rose from the bow, you caught Loki’s gaze, who had been standing back in the shadows, and you saw it. It was fleeting, but you would have sworn on your life that you saw it.

Just for a moment.

You saw the recognition.

He remembered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m the wooorst! I’m so sorry about taking so long to update, I promise that I’ll try to get on a semi-regular schedule.


	4. Chapter 4

Training was brutal.

Loki wasn’t exaggerating when he was talking about the intensity of the sparring sessions. You saw the aftermath of what happened when someone lost, and you refused to let that happen to you. However, you weren’t heartless, so each time you pinned an opponent, you leaned down to apologize as well as give them a small painkilling charm for when a part of them was replaced with machinery. Thanos didn’t use anesthetic.

You rose through the ranks extremely quickly, and within two weeks you were approaching the inevitable fight with either Gamora, Nebula, or Loki. You hadn’t met either of the daughters yet, but you prayed that you would have to spar against one of them instead of Loki. In all honesty, you hoped that it would be Gamora. Based on what you had heard, Nebula was already mostly machine, and Gamora seemed to resent her father. She might be able to help you get Loki out of this Helhole.

But of course your prayers went unanswered. You had just gotten out of the shower when you were given word that Thanos wanted to speak to you. You thanked the messenger and threw on some light armor. It was best to always be prepared in this place; a couple of times the day’s training was a series of sneak attacks throughout the palace. And while you could fight in a court dress, you really preferred not to.

When you reached the throne room, you dipped into a deep curtsy before settling into a slightly relaxed fighting stance. “You called for me, my lord?”

“Indeed. Relax, child, no one will attack you now.” You nodded and spread your feet to shoulder width, your arms tucked tightly behind you. Thanos rose from his throne and started walking around the room. “You have progressed as rapidly as my favorite daughter and your fellow Asgardian. I am pleased with your progress and believe that it is time to join the elites. One final battle and if you prove yourself you will rise from apprentice to master and will be able to instruct those inferior to you.”

“Thank you, my lord. May I inquire as to who I will be fighting?”

“Ah, where’s the fun in that?” Thanos dismissed you with a wave and you gave him a quickly bow before backing out of the throne room. You were just beginning to wonder who you were going to have to fight when a huge weight hit you in the back, throwing you down the hall. You struggled to catch your breath as you heard footsteps running towards you. At the last moment, you were able to roll to the side, narrowly avoiding being stabbed in the head by the sword that embedded itself into the ground beside you.

Hoisting yourself up from the ground, you took barely a heartbeat to size up your opponent. She was silver and blue, and it took you a moment to realize that she was one of the daughters… _Nebula_. This must be your final exam. Heavier armor shimmered into place as you grabbed the pendant off your necklace, letting it grow to its full size. Nebula growled as she looked you over, her voice surprisingly metallic. You weren’t sure how much of her body had already been replaced, and you blinked your apologies that you were going to contribute to another painful replacement.

The look in your eyes seemed to throw her off for a moment and she dropped her stance. You took the moment of weakness to plant the blade of your lance between the stones and swing around, jamming your feet straight into her chest. She landed on the ground with an audible crack and you yanked the lance out of the ground, positioning the blunt end above her head. “I’m sorry,” you told her before striking out and knocking her unconscious, adding the charm along with the blow. You crawled off her and replaced the pendant.

“Good job,” Thanos congratulated you as he stepped out of the throne room. “Tomorrow you will be at the training grounds when the sun is at its zenith. You will meet your partner then, and you will fight to earn your mastery.” You nodded and gave him a final curt bow before turning to return to your chambers. It was incredibly disappointing that that wasn’t your final, but one more fight and you would be done hurting others. Then you could focus on getting Loki out of here.

*

You twirled your lance around, running through a few drills to help loosen up your muscles before this fight. You hoped Nebula would forgive you from yesterday, and you hoped that you would have to fight Gamora today. But when you heard that silky voice call out from behind you, your heart froze as you realized your prayers had gone unanswered. “Are you ready to get this over with, darling?” Taking a breath to steady your nerves, you pasted a smirk across your face and turned to face him, settling back into your flirty persona.

“Of course. Any chance to get hot and sweaty with you, Sexy Voice Man,” you responded in a sultry tone. Once your were done with this you would start working on phasing out this character. Loki nodded to you before falling into a fighting stance. You mirrored his position, looking him over. You hadn’t fought with Loki in over a year, and you had only been a novice then, so a part of you was incredibly curious on how this fight was going to pan out.

You tightened your grip on your lance and summoned a crackling bolt of magic in your other hand. Loki ended up lashing out first, launching a triad of daggers toward your stomach. You dodged to the side, but one of them ended up burying itself in your ribs. Letting out a string of curses, you touched a hand to the ground, causing it to fall out from under Loki. You ripped the dagger out of your side and quickly cauterized the wound, letting out a scream of agony in the process.

When you looked up, Loki was crawling out of the hole in the ground, but it didn’t feel like him. So instead of lashing out towards your front, you whipped around and threw magic out behind you. The real Loki shimmered into place as he lost his concentration on the invisibility spell in order to deflect the spell that was hurtling towards his face. While he dealt with that, you ran forward and drug the tip of your lance down his arm. Loki glared at you, but you ignored it, swinging your leg around to try and knock him to the ground.

You didn’t expect Loki to grab your ankle and infuse it with… ice magic? You had the upper hand in this fight. His arm was completely out of commission. All you had to do was swing your lance around and he would be done. But the thought of Loki having to go through the pain of having a replacement surgery killed you.

So you gave up.

He threw you onto the arena floor, pinning your arms down with his knees as he sat on your chest. “This fight may have been short, but even the most peaceful of realms would not be able to question your skill. I look forward to fighting with you again, but on the same side.” He touched a hand to the side of your head, and a small spell later you were out cold.

*

You woke up to immense pain. You sat up to yell at someone to shut up the person who was screaming, but when you took a breath in, you realized that it had been you. Someone was huddled down by your legs, and when you look a closer look, you realized that your left leg was missing from just below the knee. “It was your left ankle that lost you the battle, so it needed to be upgraded,” Thanos explained as he appeared by your bedside. “However, based on your progress and triumph over Nebula, you have still completed your apprenticeship. Congratulations.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter today, but I didn’t want to drag out the moment

Loki was waiting for you outside of the sorry excuse for an operating room. You hobbled out, still cringing in pain with the newly attached prosthetic. Loki looked up when the door open and you frantically wiped away the tears that had been rolling down your cheeks. “Loki. I didn’t think you would be here.”

“Of course, darling. I’m not heartless,” he smiled.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to insinuate-”

“Darling,” Loki interrupted as he took your hands, “I was just teasing. I came to see if you were okay… and to apologize. I never wanted you to have to go through a replacement surgery, and I hoped that you would be paired with one of the other masters.” He bowed down and raised one of your hands to his lips, placing a kiss against your knuckles and making you blush as it reminded you of what used to happen at home. 

“It’s not your fault. Besides, it’s only a leg, I’ll learn to fight with this one and then be good as new. Don’t blame this on yourself, okay?” Loki looked away, and you took a hand to guide his gaze back to meet yours. “Loki. Promise me this.”

“Alright, love. I promise.” You locked eyes and in that moment you saw your Loki. Completely and utterly bare before you. You had started to lean in when you saw it. His eyes… You could have sworn that Loki had green eyes… “You’re bleeding!”

“What?”

Loki’s hand moved down to where metal sloppily joined with flesh. There was a circle of blood slowly seeping down the prosthetic, and you were a little surprised that you hadn’t felt it. “Oh. That’s inconvenient.”

“That’s the understatement of the century. Sit down here.” Loki used a little magic to clear away the grime on the ground beside you, and helped lower you to the ground. “I’m going to do this correctly, but it has been a while since I’ve had to do healing magic like this.” You nodded and Loki got to work. 

You felt as he gave you a painkilling charm before completely taking off the prosthetic and cleaning away the blood. From there he was able to connect the base to the stump of your leg properly, and you drew in a sharp gasp of pain as the nerve endings connected. Loki looked up at the sound, concerned. “You had only numbed the working nerves, it hurt just a little when the new ones connected. I’m fine now,” you quickly reassured. 

Loki nodded and turned back to his work, using magic to clean and fix anything in the base that needed to be. You watched in fascination as he moved with a surprising amount of expertise. Loki must’ve notice you watching, because he said, “you help the fallen with pain, I help them by fixing what the druids did. It’s how I apologize.” He grabbed the metal leg and attached it, simultaneously cleaning and fixing it. “There, it should work better now.”

Loki stood up before offering you a hand. You took it gratefully and allowed him to help you back to your feet. It’s didn’t feel like your stump was being assaulted with broken glass anymore, so Loki had obviously done some good. You took a few tentative steps forward, and while you were a little shaky, it didn’t hurt when you moved. “Thank you.”

“Of course, love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so the note that says I might not continue keeps moving to the newest chapter. Just to clear up any confusion, I am definitely continuing, but my update schedule is nonexistent due to school.


	6. Chapter 6

“The most important lesson I can teach you is mercy. Once you have an enemy at your feet, you hold their fate in your hands.” In the couple of months that you had been the fourth of Thanos’ masters, you had taken great care to teach each of your classes the value of mercy. After all, it was Loki’s mercy that only lost you your leg. It had been a little hard to adjust, but Loki had been there through it all to teach you how to walk and fight again.

“Mercy is weakness.” Your gaze snapped up to meet a young Kree boy’s. He stared back at you defiantly with piercing yellow eyes.

“What is your name?” You cut through the throng of Thanos’ future soldiers towards the boy.

“Aff-Trel.”

“Well, Aff-Trel, I’m here to tell you that mercy is the greatest strength of all.” He rolled his eyes, and you felt the need to put him in his place. “How about we use this as a learning opportunity?” Before he even had the chance to process, you had ducked down to sweep his legs out from under him, simultaneously pulling out your lance and pinning the tip to his throat. “What would you have me do? Kill you here and now, or let you live another day? I will be happy to oblige whatever you choose.”

He swallowed nervously and you sighed, shrinking your lance back down and clipping it onto the chain around your neck. “An enemy will often recognize once they are defeated. In that case there is no reason to kill them.” Just as you turned around, you heard a yelling from behind you and felt a weight latch onto your back.

You stumbled forward a few steps before growling and grabbing the wrists around your throat, bending forward to throw Aff-Trel off your back. He landed on the ground with a sickening crack, but he still managed to spring back up and attack you again. You were able to easily dodge the young boy’s uncoordinated fists, and you swung your leg up and around to knock him in the side of the head. He fell back down to the ground, muttering curses in his language. But if he was anything, he was resilient. He got back up and lashed out with his fists again, landing a blow on your nose. Now you were pissed.

Summoning your magic, you levitated him by the back of his shirt. “Of course, apprentices, you will always have the occasional morons who don’t know when to quit. In those cases, it is up to personal preference for how you wish to continue.” You struck out, planting a few well-placed blows on some of Aff-Trel’s pressure points and dropping him to a writhing heap on the ground. “Get out. Go back to your planet and never come back to my classroom again,” you hissed. He scrambled up from the ground, and with one final glare back at you, ran out of the room. “Dismissed for today, remember to practice the new defensive strategies.”

The students filed out of the room and you had to suppress a sigh. They were so young. So vulnerable. And Thanos was exploiting all of them. In the time you had been here, you had been able to piece together his plan to “save” everyone from running out of resources by killing have the population. It was awful, barbaric, and made you physically angry, but there was nothing you could do as of now besides try to teach the children about things other than war. They were mostly orphans from the planets Thanos had reached. They had already been through too much.

Someone walked in and you looked up to see that it was Loki. You smiled to welcome him, simultaneously magiking on a tunic and some more comfortable pants. “How were your lessons today, darling?” Loki grabbed your hand and raised it to his lips, brushing a kiss against your knuckles.

“Alright, there was a Kree boy who was a pain in the ass. I sent him home. I’m hoping that he forgets Thanos’ influence, but if I’m remembering correctly the Kree are a warfaring race. I don’t think my mercy lesson will stick.”

“Don’t pout, darling, you can’t help everyone,” Loki consoled. “You’re doing the best that you can. How is your leg holding up?” You pulled up your pant leg to let Loki take a look at your metal limb. He waved his fingers, casting a small charm to run a quick analytics scan.

“I’ve been cleaning it every night like you showed me, and I don’t sleep with it on.” Loki nodded approvingly and you couldn’t resist reaching down to ruffle his hair, inciting a glare from the god. “It’s weird. Sometimes when I’m walking, or even when I don’t even have my leg on, it’ll feel like I still have my flesh leg, but when I look down, it’s not there.”

Loki finished fiddling around with your leg and stood back up with a grunt. “That’s good. It helps with the transition from a natural leg to an artificial one. Has the prosthetic kept up with your drills? I know that they are not made of the most reliable material, and I’ve had many people come up to me asking for repairs-”

“Lokes, I’m fine.” You placed a hand on the side of his cheek to shut him up, and he leaned slightly into the touch. Over the last few months, Loki had become comfortable with the habit once again, and you tried to do it as much as possible for your poor touch-starved god. “You promised me that you wouldn’t blame yourself for this. Don’t lie to me.”

Loki chuckled before responding with, “Love, I am the god of mischief, chaos, and lies. It would be unrealistic of you to expect that I wouldn’t lie.”

“Well I’m the goddess of memories, stability, and truth. It would be unrealistic to think that I couldn’t tell if you were lying.”

“I wasn’t aware that you had a godhead, darling.” Loki offered you his arm and you took it, letting him lead you who-knows-where.

“I’m Asgardian, aren’t I? Of course I would have one.”

“Ah, but you forget that you have to be high up on the political chain to get one,” Loki teased. “And I don’t recall a beauty such as yourself joining me in court.” That struck you like an icicle in the heart. You could tell that someone had been messing with Loki’s memories based on his recountings of his family, but you had no idea that you had been struck from his mind altogether. Your throat burned all of a sudden, and you had to cough a couple of times to get rid of it. Loki looked at you out of the corner of his eye and, sensing your distress, changed the subject. “Lokes? Really?”

You snorted and squeezed his arm. “Yeah, really. It seemed fitting.” Loki scrunched his nose in disgust and you remembered how much he hated when people gave him nicknames. ”Where are you taking me anyway?”

“Thanos has requested our presence upon our earliest convenience. So he means immediately. And before you ask, I have no idea what he wants.” You half-smiled and punched him in the side, conjuring on a court dress. You didn’t have to worry about midday ambushes anymore since you were a master, and it felt better to dress properly when going to see the king - or equivalent of - of a realm.

The pair of you reached the throne room and Loki pushed the doors open, letting you walk in first.

“Good, you’re here,” Thanos turned around in his throne like some classic supervillain. “It’s time for you to go to Earth.”


	7. Chapter 7

“I’m sorry, what?!”

Thanos glared down at you and you immediately snapped your jaw shut, regretting speaking out of turn. He rose from his throne after a moment and motioned for someone to come out of the shadows. “I have received word that the tesseract resides on Terra. My daughters are occupied on missions of their own, so I am sending you both to retrieve it.” Turning to the servant he had summoned, he grabbed a huge pointed spear with a glowing blue stone in the middle. “This weapon contains the Mind Stone. Use it to… persuade the natives to join your cause.”

He presented the spear to Loki and the god accepted it with a slight bow. When he raised his head again, his eyes were a startling shade of blue - much brighter then they had been since you got here. You swallowed your panic at the development before Thanos could see, dropping into a respectful curtsy. When you came back up, you could see a new hunger for power within Loki, and you worried that all the work you had done over the last few months to try and get your Loki back was erased.

One of the high priests entered the room, and both you and Loki nodded your respect to the newcomer. He turned to Loki and you could feel as he summoned his magic. “You want a war, correct?” The Mind Stone glowed a little brighter as Loki nodded. “You want revenge on those who have wronged you. Revenge on Thor by destroying the world of his Lady.” The Stone glowed again and Loki nodded, growling slightly at the mention of his brother. Thanos smiled wickedly as the priest finished his spell.

That was it. You don’t know why you hadn’t seen it before. You were the goddess of memory for fucks’ sake! Of course Loki was under mind control. You didn’t know exactly what happened on the bridge, but Loki had stormed out in such an emotional state on the day he fell. It would have been so easy for Thanos’ influence to slip into place.

The priest moved on and started reciting a complicated incantation. This must be extremely powerful and ancient magic for the spell to be verbal. Loki blinked a few times and stumbled a couple of steps as his mind made room for the new magic in it. You rushed forward to steady him, silently casting a charm to start undoing the damage inflicted.

Finally, a huge blue portal burst open in the middle of the room. When you looked through, you saw a multitude of scientists, a man with a bow-and-arrow, and another man with an eyepatch. The latter pulled out what you could only assume was a kind of weapon and you felt fear flood through your body. This was an unknown enemy. You hadn’t been to Midgard since you were little, and from the looks of it, it had advanced quite a bit. “Don’t disappoint me,” Thanos instructed. Loki nodded and stepped through the portal. One last breath to steady your nerves, and you followed.

~~~

_The door froze, bursting open to reveal two Frost Giants. Fear struck your heart as Frigga rushed forward, pulling a sword out of the foot of the cradle to attack the first of the two. You understood her unspoken message as you took up a defensive stance by the sleeping Odin’s head. Frigga managed to slay the first of the giants before the second threw her to the ground, knocking her out cold. You realized then that Laufey, king of the Jotuns himself, came to try and kill Odin._

_He paused when he saw you. “Step aside, Asgardian. While I would like nothing more than to kill you, I have made a promise to harm only the king.” That confused you, but you couldn’t focus on it right now. You had to protect Odin._

_“You’ll only get to him when I’m dead.” Laufey sighed and you readied your lance. You were training to be a warrior, after all. And warriors sacrificed themselves for their monarchs. Laufey created a few ice daggers, launching them at you. Each of your wrists got cut, and your lance clattered to the ground as you cradled them to your chest. Laufey stalked over to you and, leaning down to reach your ankles, froze your feet to the floor. He then crossed over to the cradle and climbed on top to straddle Odin._

_“It is said you can still hear and see what transpires around you,” he began. “I hope it’s true. So that you may know your death came at the hand of Laufey.” He raised another dagger to strike, and you cried out, furious that you were helpless. Your magic wasn’t strong enough for offensive spells yet. Laufey had just started to lower his hand when a golden blast shot out from the doorway, knocking the Jotun from his perch. Your gaze whipped around and you let out a sigh of relief when you saw that it was Loki._

_He brought Gungnir back to his side. “And your death came by the son of Odin.” With that he fired one last shot at Laufey, killing him in a blast of golden light. Frigga began to stir and upon seeing how you were fused to the ground, ran over with a melting charm at the ready. You both ran over to Loki, and Frigga enveloped him in a grateful hug._

_“You saved him,” breathed Frigga. Loki pulled back and kissed her cheek before turning to you, a slight panic in his eye. After he was sure you didn’t have any major injuries - partially because you hid your wrists - he pulled you in for a fierce hug._

_“Are you alright?” He was clearly panicked for you. It would have been sweet if you hadn’t almost died a few moments ago. You nodded against the side of his head, pressing a kiss against his shoulder. “I swear to you, Mother,” he said as he pulled away, “that they will pay for what they did today.” You trailed your hand down Loki’s arm, intertwining your fingers with his._

_“Loki,” Thor stormed into the room, much to your surprise. Frigga crossed over to her elder son, embracing him harshly. “Why don’t you tell them why you sent the destroyer to kill our friends? To kill me?” He stormed down the stairs, glaring at his younger brother. You gave Loki a concerned look, and he kissed your cheek before motioning for you to go and stand by Frigga._

_“Why I must have been enforcing Father’s last command.” You grimaced at the lie and silently promised yourself to ask Loki about it later._

_“Your a talented liar, Brother, always have been,” Thor said through gritted teeth. The brothers were on opposite sides of the cradle at this point, and you were worried one of them would do something stupid and end up injuring Odin in his vulnerable state._

_“It’s good to have you back,” Loki replied, “now if you’ll excuse me, I have to destroy Jotunheim.” To punctuate his point, he fired Gungnir straight at Thor, shooting him clear through the wall and leaving him to fall to the base of the castle. Loki then turned on his heel and stalked out of the cradle room, his gate clearly expressing his agitation. You glanced at Frigga and she nodded, silently telling you to go after him._

_You took off in pursuit, but damn long legs had let Loki cover much more ground. You finally spotted him as you rounded a corner. “Loki!” He faltered in his next step, but kept going after a moment. “Loki, I just had my feet frozen to the floor and it hurts to run after you! Just stop and talk to me for a moment, please?” You could hear Loki sigh before he stopped and turned back around to meet you halfway down the hallway._

_“Love, please go back and take care of Mother. I have business to attend to.”_

_“Loki, what’s been going on lately? Ever since you had to take the throne you’ve been acting strange,” you finally expressed the concerns that had been building up the past couple of days. “I’m not sure what to make of your newfound hatred for the Jotuns that could rival Thor’s, and I’m worried for you. You know that I’m here to help support you, right? Confide in me.”_

_Loki’s gaze softened and you placed your hand on the side of his cheek. After a heartbeat, he grabbed your wrist and placed a kiss into the palm of your hand. However, when he let go and finally saw the blood coming from where Laufey cut you, his eyes turned a homicidal shade of green once again. “Was this Laufey?” You nodded and Loki snarled. “You weren’t supposed to get hurt. Go back to Mother and have her heal you,” he instructed. “I’ll explain everything when I get back.” You nodded and Loki turned to resume his path to the bifrost, but you grabbed him at the last moment, turning him to face you and slamming your lips against his._

“ _Don’t_ _do anything stupid,” you told him, keeping your foreheads pressed together. “I kinda like you and I’m not ready to give you up yet.” Loki chuckled and placed one last chaste kiss against your lips before walking away._


	8. Chapter 8

Loki landed in a crouch, you in a fighting stance right behind him. The energy from the portal collapsed and dispersed across the room, gathering together again at the ceiling. The humans slowly started to gather as Loki looked up, and fear and confusion was strewn across their faces. “Sir, please put down the spear,” the man in the eyepatch said as Loki stood up. Loki looked at his weapon before winding up and shooting an energy blast. From there, all Hel broke loose.

One human began shooting at Loki, and he flung himself across the room, stabbing the man and effectively killing him. You sprung into action, hurling your lance around and killing anyone who tried to harm Loki. You felt bad for these humans. Against two Asgardians, they never stood a chance. Snipers appeared behind you, and Loki flung daggers at them before you could move. You rapaid the favor by heaving your lance forward and killing the person running up behind Loki. Someone managed to hit Loki, which really pissed him off, and he fired another energy blast, quickly killing the enemy.

The lab was completely destroyed when the chaos finally died down, and you swiftly returned to your place at Loki’s side. Someone started to get up, a high-level warrior,  and Loki ran over, catching the man by the wrist. “You have heart,” Loki observed. He then took the spear and placed it against the man’s chest. Activating the Mind Stone, Loki cast a spell, putting the man under his control. Loki searched his eyes, making sure the spell had worked, and he smiled when the man put his weapon away. Loki turned and placed another human under his control. “Please don’t,” Loki requested and you noticed that the man in the eyepatch had taken the Tesseract and placed it in a case. The man stopped walking towards the door, and you could tell he was searching for a way to get the cube and himself to safety. “I still need that.”

“This doesn’t have to get any messier,” the man said.

“Of course it does. I’ve come too far for anything else.” The man turned around and Loki continued. “I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose.”

“Loki,” one of the scientists that wasn’t killed rose from where he was checking on one of his fallen friends. “Brother of Thor.” You cringed inwardly. This scientist had practically asked for death as he realized why he had recognized Loki’s name. Thor was _not_ a good person to be mentioning right now.

“We have no quarrel with your people,” the eyepatched man assured.

“An ant has no quarrel with a boot,” Loki shot back.

“Are you planning to step on us?”

“I come with glad tidings,” Loki smiled. “Of a world made free.”

The eyepatched man was skeptical. “Free from what?”

“Freedom. Freedom is life’s great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart,” Loki turned quickly and placed his spear against the scientist’s chest, and you had to stop yourself from intervening as you realized Loki was just casting his mind control spell, “You will know peace.”

“Yeah, you say ‘peace,’ I kind of think you mean the other thing.” You silently willed the man to get out. Escape while he still could. Did he not see that the energy from the portal was becoming unstable? That this whole building was going to come down?

“Sir,” the warrior interrupted. “Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us.” The energy pulsed as if to prove his point. “He means to bury us.”

“Like the pharaohs of old,” the man in the eyepatch - Fury - confirmed the warrior’s theory.

“He’s right,” the scientist checked his technology. “The portal is collapsing in on itself. We’ve got maybe two minutes before this goes critical.”

“Well then.” Loki gave a silent order to the warrior and he drew his weapon, firing straight at his former leader. Loki motioned for you to follow and he lead the group out of the room, the warrior grabbing the Tesseract on the way. Once out, Loki let the warrior take the lead, and he passed the Tesseract over to the scientist as he marched straight to where what you assumed were transportation machines were kept.

“I need these vehicles,” he instructed the lower-level warriors in the room. Loki nodded and settled into the back of one as a woman walked through another door.

“Who’s that?” She looked automatically skeptical as she searched for most likely Fury. You praised her in your head. You had been told that humans were far beneath you mentally, physically, and pretty much in every way, but the ones you had encountered so far seemed very smart for their species.

“They didn’t tell me,” the warrior lied as scientist entered the vehicle. You climbed in behind Loki, taking a seated position and securing yourself by hooking a leg through the bars along the edge. The woman still seemed wary, but you could tell the warrior was well-respected, and she accepted his lie.

“ _Hill_!” Fury’s voice sounded through a small communicator in her hand. “ _Do_ _you_ _copy?_ _Barton_ _has_   _turned_!” The warrior, who you now knew was called Barton, whipped around and fired two shots at Hill, but she ducked down and rolled to cover. Barton quickly got into his seat and the vehicle lurched forward. Hill slid out from behind her cover as she heard the vehicle start, but it was moving too fast for any of her shots to hit their target. Barton raced down a tunnel, and shots were fired as another vehicle approached. Loki took care of it with an energy blast from the Stone. The enemy vehicle flipped over and landed horizontally, blocking the tunnel from any other adversaries.

Another vehicle shot out from another tunnel and maneuvered so that the front was pressed up against your vehicle’s. When you looked inside, you saw that Hill was driving. She raised her weapon and fired at Barton. Barton fired back before shaking her vehicle off and racing ahead. You heard a faint explosion and everything started falling around you. The portal must have collapsed. Falling rock trapped Hill, but Barton was able to get you safely out of the tunnel before you were encased in stone.

Barton swerved off the road, and the door of a flying machine in front of you opened to reveal Fury. He pulled his weapon and fired at you, but Loki shot another blast, knocking the machine from the sky. Fury jumped out to avoid crashing, rolling onto one knee and firing more shots, but you were too far away for them to hit. You rode in silence, adrenaline coming down, before you finally spoke. “Let me see your wound.”

Loki gave you a look, and you shot one right back, already starting to peel away the armor covering his shoulder. “Come on, you stubborn prick. Let me heal it.” Loki’s hardened mask cracked just a little as he assisted you with revealing how much damage had been done.

“You need to see if the bullet is still in and remove it before closing the wound,” Barton helped. You thanked him before setting to your work. Using a small charm, you were able to grasp the projectile and pull it back out, causing Loki to close his eyes in pain. You stored the bullet in a dimensional pocket to study later before placing your hands over the wound and infusing it with healing magic. You may not be as skilled a healer as Frigga, but you could handle puncture wounds. After a moment you pulled your hands away and conjured a rag to clean the blood from Loki’s newly healed shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters are going to start taking a little longer to come out. I need to be watching the Avengers as I write this now - which I don’t have any problem in doing - but it’s hard to find time to do so.


	9. Chapter 9

Barton drove for hours before pulling into another storage center similar to the one he took the vehicle from. The scientist who had introduced himself as Dr. Selvig had immediately gone to the building’s basement and started setting up a lab similar to the one you and Loki had been transported to. The doctor was muttering to himself as he worked, but you could tell that he was struggling with how little equipment you had been able to bring with you. “I need more. I need to be able to build her something to control her. Something to enhance her power.”

“Her?”

“The Tesseract,” Selvig explained. “She is not just an object. She is a being learning, growing. It’s wonderful.” Loki smiled wickedly at that. 

“Barton, how many enemies does Shield have?”

“In a world like this?” Barton scoffed. “Hundreds. There was a laboratory a few miles back. Crawling with people who wanted the super soldier serum, but Shield wouldn’t let them get it. People died, Shield found itself with more enemies than ever.” Loki nodded and motioned for you to follow him. He lead you up and out of the building, and you could feel him reaching out with his magic for where the lab was. 

You could tell when he found it and was gearing up to teleport, but you grabbed his arm and pulled him off balance, distracting him at the last minute. He gave you a look, silently asking what you were doing. “It’s only a few miles,” you explained, “Let’s walk.” You were going to take this time to check up and see how your spell undo the dark magic within Loki’s mind was doing without risking showing your plans or making Loki seem weak in front of the others. “How’s your head doing?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean, darling.”

“Oh, it’s just been a long day and someone landed a pretty nasty punch back at the portal… let me check to see that everything’s still running properly in there,” you teased. Loki smiled and nodded, bending down slightly so that you could reach his head easier. You quickly cast the charm, resting your hand on Loki’s cheek as you lowered it back down. 

“Thank you, darling. Always so considerate.” You smiled, starting the walk to the laboratory again. “Ah, ah,” Loki chastised. “I allowed you to check up on me, so I believe it’s only fair that I am allowed to repair your leg. It is the first time that it has seen heavy battle.” You hesitated for a moment, but relented when Loki gave you a stern look. Sitting down on a rock, you presented your leg. Loki kneeled down, carefully tinkering with a few odds and ends until he was satisfied. Taking his hand, you let Loki help you up before setting off again.

You walked in silence for a few minutes, reading the data you were getting from Loki’s mind. There was incredibly dark magic woven into every corner of Loki’s subconscious. It broke your heart to see how Thanos had warped and manipulated him. Loki had been through enough already without Thanos’ meddling. Your charm had barely even begun to undo the damage that had been manifesting since Loki fell into the abyss. Loki squeezed your hand, and you startled as you realized that neither of you had let go after he helped you up. “Are you feeling alright, darling?”

“Yes!” You snatched your hand back out of Loki’s. “Y-yes, perfectly fine. Thank you. You’re brain is all fine by the way, you silly bilgesnipe.”

“I am not a bilgesnipe!”

“Are you kidding! Once you get that golden helmet on, I can’t tell you apart!” Loki chuckled while you brought your hands up to your forehead in a poor impression of Loki’s helmet. You realized the ridiculousness of it all, and you slowly brought your hands back down as your face started to burn. “That was really embarrassing, I don’t know why I did that… And now I’m making it worse… I’m going to shut up now.”

Loki laughed, and you couldn’t help but smile at seeing him so carefree. “Why do I feel like I know you?”

“Huh?”

You looked up in surprise, and Loki was looking right back, happiness and confusion shining in his emerald eyes. “We only met about a year ago,” he explained, “But I feel as though I’ve known you for centuries. Did you say that you knew the royal family?”

“Oh! Um… I was able to watch you and Thor grow up. I - I was a servant! So, I guess we could have crossed paths a few times.” You struggled to come up with the lie, and you hoped that the dark magic would keep Loki from sensing it. He furrowed his brow for a few moments and your heart was hammering in your chest. Loki wouldn’t trust you again if he found out you lied to him. 

“Alright. Let’s go and gain some allies, shall we?” Loki held out his hand to teleport, and you took it, accepting that he understood you were not telling him the exact truth, but he would play along for now.


	10. Chapter 10

At first you had been happy that you had more scientists to help with the Tesseract, but now they were just getting on your nerves. Many of them had come to Loki’s side willingly, only a few having to be… persuaded, and any that were still on the fence about joining forces with two aliens claiming to be gods quickly swore allegiance when they saw the other option was to have their brains taken over. But they were all over the place! There was always noise or running or people bumping into you. You didn’t like what you were doing to humanity, but this many of them in one place was really testing your patience. You mainly stuck to Loki’s side, silently protecting him whenever the Mind Stone glowed and Loki was called to Thanos.

*

_The world fell away, leaving Loki back in the throne room of Thanos. But it was different this time. It no longer looked like Asgard, Loki being on one level surrounded by open space, and stairs leading upwards presumably to the Titian off to one side. “The Chitauri grow restless.” Loki looked up to see Thanos’ high priest in front of him._

_“Let them gird themselves,” Loki replied. He teleported a few paces forward, simultaneously changing into his battle armor. “I will lead them into glorious battle.”_

_“Battle? Against the meager might of Earth?”_

_“Glorious, not lengthy,” Loki corrected. “If your force is as formidable as you claim.”_

_“You question us? You question him,” the priest gestured up the stairs. “He who put the scepter in your hand, who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out,_ defeated _?”_

_“I was a king! The rightful king of Asgard. Betrayed.” Loki struggled to keep his temper in check._

_“Your ambition is little and born of childish need. We look beyond the Earth to greater worlds the Tesseract will unveil.”_

_“You don’t have the Tesseract yet,” Loki reminded. The priest screeched, teleporting over to Loki and holding up his hand as though to kill. “I don’t threaten,” Loki lowered the end of the scepter to the priest’s face, “But until I open the doors, until your force is mine to command, you are but words.”_

_“You will have your war, Asgardian. If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no_ crevice _where he cannot find you. You think you know pain? He will make you long for something sweet as pain.” The priest brought his hand up in a flash, launching Loki into a flurry of memories. Memories of you as a young girl, finding and consoling Loki after a particularly bad quarrel with Thor. Of studying magic together with Frigga, of pranking the warriors three and raiding the kitchens late at night._

_Loki remembered realizing that he had feelings stronger than friendship for you after you had announced you accepted a courtship request from one of the guards. Loki remembered every moment he had shared with you, the trust and love that had blossomed. Loki remembered his confession, your kiss, how you told him to come back safe when he went to the bifrost. He remembered everything._

~~~

Loki groaned as he came back out of the telepathic conversation, his head reeling at the newfound memories. How had they been taken from him? Why was he getting them back now? Loki searched through them again in an instant, remembering how you got hurt the day he fell because of him. The day he fell… Odin’s beard, the day he fell! You had told him not to do anything stupid. You had trusted him enough to tend to Frigga while Loki took care of Jotunheim, waiting for him to come back with an explanation. What had he done? Loki couldn’t bear to think about the pain he had put you through.

“Loki, are you alright?” Loki looked up at you, now recognizing the concern pooling in your eyes for what it was. He wondered how you found him in Thanos’ grasp, and he opened his mouth to ask, but a vision flashed around him. He was back with the priest for just a moment, Thanos standing in front of him, a single finger placed against his lips. The vision was gone in an instant, but Loki understood the message. He was not to talk about his restored memories.

“I’m fine. We need to check on the progress of Doctor Selvig.”

*

This time was different. Usually when Loki came out of telepathic conversations with Thanos, you could feel that the mind control spell draped over him had been replenished. But this time, you could feel that something had snapped. Something had been released. “Loki, are you alright?” Loki looked up at you, a thousand emotions flying through his gaze. He looked as if he were going to respond, but his eyes glazed over for a second, and he clearly decided otherwise.

“I’m fine. We need to check on the progress of Doctor Selvig.” Loki stood up from his perch on the step, and you reluctantly resumed your position of the loyal, silent servant who needed to bow to Loki’s every will. You would have to wait to check up on your spell to see what had happened while Loki’s conscious was away. Loki lead you to the center of the makeshift laboratory where Selvig was leading research directly on the Tesseract. The doctor broke off from his work when he saw the two of you approaching.

“Put it over there,” he instructed some workers. “Where did you find all these people?”

“Shield has no shortage of enemies, Doctor,” Barton explained. He was already observing progress when you and Loki got there. “This the stuff you need?” He held up a device showcasing an element called iridium.

“Yeah, iridium,” Selvig confirmed. “It’s found in meteorites. It forms antiprotons. It’s very hard to get a hold of.”

“Especially if Shield knows you need it.” You could already tell Barton was forming a plan on how to obtain the element needed for the doctor.

“Well I didn’t know. Hey!” Selvig finally addressed Loki. “The Tesseract has shown me so much. It’s more than knowledge… It’s truth.” Loki smiled at that.

“I know. What did it show you, Agent Barton?” Loki inclined his head to look at the assassin.

“My next target.”

“Tell me what you need.” Barton walked over a a weapons case, pulling out his bow.

“I need a distraction,” he instructed. “And an eyeball.”

“Very well, where is this eyeball located?”

“Germany. In order to get to the iridium, I have to get by a retinal scanner. This man,” Barton pulled out his device again, this time showcasing the picture of a man in a suit, “Has the retina to get past it. He will be attending a gathering, very formal, very refined. Only the most elite have been invited.”

Loki smiled wickedly. “Well then,” he turned his gaze upon you. “I believe it is time for us to take a little trip, darling.”


	11. Chapter 11

It felt good to be in a proper court dress again. And you had to say, the Midgardian suit Loki was wearing definitely didn’t hurt his image. The music being played didn’t compare to the bards back in Asgard, but they were quite talented. You and Loki watched from the balcony as people milled about, going about their menial lives. Someone tapped on a small black device designed to amplify his voice, signaling the official start to the event. “Shall we, darling?” Loki held out his arm, which you took happily, and started to lead you down the stairs. “Now if you will excuse me,” he bid as you reached the bottom.

“Of course,” you replied. Loki let go of your arm, placing a quick peck on the back of your hand before adjusting his grip on his cane and swinging the end around to hit one of the security guards in the face, knocking him to the ground. The crowd of people disrupted into chaos as Loki strode forward, grabbing your man and flipping him onto a very large table in the middle of the room. Loki then pulled out a device, activating it and attaching it to the man’s face. Loki smiled as the humans ran about the room, their panic making them seem much more primitive than normal.

The people rushed outdoors as Loki finished the extraction, turning to you once he put the device away. “Apologies, my lady.”

“All is forgiven, my lord.” Loki smirked at you, placing one more chaste kiss on the back of your hand before turning to follow the throng of Midgardians, using magic to don his armor. You followed suit, saying goodbye to your formalwear in favor of the armor provided to you during your time spent with Thanos. Humans were still running about when you got outside, and there was a vehicle making a ruckus as it maneuvered towards Loki. The god didn’t seem phased, sending it skidding on its front after a single blast of the Mind Stone.

“Kneel before me.” Illusions of Loki appeared every which way the humans tried to run, trapping them in the square they had fled to. “I said,” Loki planted his scepter into the ground. “ _Kneel_!” The terrified people finally dropping to their knees. “Is not this simpler,” Loki inquired, slowly making his way through the crowd. “Is this not your natural state? It’s the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life’s joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.”

Then someone did something you never thought they would do. An elder of the group rose from his knees, determination guiding his every move. “Not to men like you.”

“There are no men like me.”

“There are always men like you.” The elder’s voice was weary. He had known loss.

“Look to your elder, people.” Loki lowered the scepter, the Stone glowing as it drew power. “Let him be an example.”

“Loki! _No_ -” You were too late, Loki had already fired the killing blast. Just before the blast could hit its target, another man dropped from the sky, deflecting it back towards Loki. The energy hit Loki square in the chest, throwing him backwards. You leapt into Loki’s path backwards, using yourself as a cushion and being sure that he did not hit his head. Loki looked back up, eyes brimming with fury at the man with the shield.

“You know, the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.” He walk down the aisle between people to where you and Loki were crumpled on the ground.

“The soldier,” Loki identified the new enemy as he got up. “The man out of time.”

“I’m not the one who’s out of time.” A plane flew down from its concealed spot in the sky, its weapons rotating to lock onto you and Loki.

“Loki,” a woman’s voice sounded from the plane. “Drop the weapon and stand down.” In an instant, Loki had fired a blast and the engine of the plane, but it swerved out of the way just in time. The soldier hurled himself at Loki, and they engaged in a brief tussle before Loki threw him across the square. The soldier flung his shield at Loki, who deflected it with the butt of the scepter, but the soldier took that time to get back on his feet, launching another offense against the god. You stood back, observing how the newcomer fought. Loki could take care of himself for now, but this was information that could be used to your advantage later.

More blows were landed, and Loki eventually used the scepter to knock the soldier back to his knees. Placing the end of it on the soldier’s head, Loki gave one instruction. “Kneel.”

“Not today.” The soldier grabbed the end of the scepter, knocking it off of his head and using his leverage to haul his body up and swing his leg around to hit Loki in the jaw. Loki got a grip around the soldier’s neck, throwing him back down on the ground again. But before you could join in the fight, loud and obnoxious music started sounding from the plane, drawing everyone’s focus to the sky.

A man dressed in metal came flying down, and he shot some kind of energy from his hands straight into Loki’s chest, sending the god flying backwards onto the steps. You rushed to Loki’s side, checking to see if he was injured. /I’m so sorry, I was about to help/

/No worries, this will end up working in our favor/ Loki cut the telepathic link as you both looked at the metal man.

Many devices rose out of his armor, which you could only assume were weapons. “Make your move, Reindeer Games.” Loki gave you an almost undetectable nod, raising his hands and magically sending his heavy armor away. “Good move. You too, Clarice.” You followed Loki’s example, changing into informal Asgarian clothes. Norns, Loki had better have a plan.


	12. Chapter 12

The metal man and soldier, who had been identified at Mister Stark and Captain respectively, loaded you onto the plane, making sure that both you and Loki were trapped securely to the seats inside of it. The woman flying the plane took off, taking you Odin-knows-where. Occasionally she spoke to an unknown person, but since you could only hear her part of the conversation, it wasn’t all that helpful.

“I don’t like it,” Captain was talking to Mister Stark, but that sure as Hel wasn’t going to stop you from eavesdropping.

“What, Rock of Ages giving up so easily? Or the girl following his every move? I know that you’re not used to women fawning all over you, but it’s not actually that uncommon to those of us who actually get around a little.”

“Is everything a joke to you? I just… I don’t remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop.”

“Still, you are pretty spry for an older fellow. What’s your thing, Pilates?”

“What?”

“It’s like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things doing time as a Capsicle.”

Captain looked like he was regretting every choice he had made in his life up until this moment. “Fury didn’t tell me he was calling you in.” You rolled your eyes. Subtle way to change the subject.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of things Fury doesn’t tell you.” Thunder boomed all around you, lightning flashing in all directions. Your heart froze as you realized what that meant, and your throat burned at the prospect of seeing someone who was like a brother to you again.

“Where is this coming from?” The woman flying the plane address the people in the back for the first time since you had gotten in. Loki glanced up at the ceiling, a little bit of fear seeping through his perfect court mask.

“What’s the matter?” Captain asked. “Are you scared of a little lightning?”

“I’m not overly fond of what follows,” Loki replied. Mister Stark and Capitan shared a confused look, but that was quickly interrupted as a loud thud sound from on top of the plane. Mister Stark grabbed the helmet he had taken off when he got on the plane, putting it back on and securing it into place. He then crossed over to a panel and pressed a button so that the back of the plane started opening.

“What are you doing?” Thor jumped down to the open space, eyes locking with yours and he looked surprised for a very brief moment before shaking it off and stomping over to you. Mister Stark started to charge his weapons, but Thor pushed him back with Mjolnir. Thor yanked off your restraints, throwing you over his shoulder before grabbing Loki by the neck and using Mjolnir to fly the three of you out of the plane and onto the land below. You clung on during your decent, thanking the Norns that Thor was here to take you and Loki home.

Thor landed on a cliff, throwing Loki down and letting you scramble back off of his shoulder. “Where is the Tesseract?”

“I missed you, too,” Loki laughed.

“Do I look to be in a gaming mood?” You could hear the barely concealed emotion in Thor’s voice. He was just as relieved to see you both as you were to see him, despite the circumstances that had brought him here.

“You should thank me,” Loki countered. “With the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here, your precious Earth?” Thor dropped Mjolnir, hauling Loki up from the ground and cradling his head.

“I thought you dead. _Both_ of you.”

“Did you mourn?”

“We all did. Our father-”

“ _Your_ father.”

Thor dropped his hands as he recognized how broken Loki had become. He looked back to you for a brief moment, but you just stared on. You had a feeling that you were close to finding out what had happened that day on the Bifrost. “He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?” Loki glanced over Thor’s shoulder at you, shutting back down in an instant and opting instead to begin his walk down the mountain.

“We were raised together,” Thor insisted. “We played together, we _fought_ together. Do you remember none of that?”

“I remember a shadow.” Loki turned back to look up at his brother. “Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss. I, who was, and should be, king!”

“So you take the world I love as a recompense for your imagined slights? No. The Earth is under my protection, Loki.” Loki just laughed.

“And you’re doing a marvelous job with that. The humans slaughter each other in droves while you idly fret. I mean to rule them, and why should I not?”

“You think yourself above them?”

Loki paused. “Well, yes.”

“Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. A throne would suit you ill.” Loki hit his fist against Thor’s chest, pushing his brother out of the way and stalking back up the incline.

“I’ve seen worlds you’ve never known about! I have grown, _Odinson_ , in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I yield it…”

“Who showed you this power?” Thor interrupted. “Who controls the would-be king?”

_“I am a king!”_

“ _Not here_! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream! You come home.”

Loki chuckled. “I don’t have it.” Thor threw down Loki’s collar and held out his hand, calling Mjolnir. You got up from where you had settled yourself on a rock, not wanting to intrude on the family conversation, silently grabbing your pendant and turning it back into a lance. You loved Thor, but if he started to turn on Loki… You knew Thor could bounce back from whatever attack you threw at him, but Loki was in no state mentally, emotionally, or physically to defend himself against the older brother. “You need the Cube to bring me home,” Loki continued, “But I’ve sent it off, I know not where.”

“You listen well, brother-” A shooting star came rushing down from the sky, hauling Thor off his feet and to the forest floor below.

“I’m listening.” Loki laughed and started down the path again. “Now come, darling. I need to get to their base and the best way to do that is for them to take us there. We’ll let the tin man and Thor have their fun before resuming with our plans.”

“No, Loki,” you said. Loki stopped mid-stride, turning back to look at you with a new glint in his eye. “I’m not going until I get some answers. You were gone from Asgard for a year before I found you again. Thor wasn’t lying, we did mourn for you, _I mourned for you._ And now you’re going on about how Odin isn’t your father and your true parentage? Loki, I will follow you wherever you lead, but you need to trust me.”

You couldn’t read Loki’s expression in the dark, but if you knew anything about your god, he was definitely calculating how much to tell you in order to satiate your need for knowledge. “Very well.” You could feel his power stirring for just a moment, and when you blinked the Loki you knew was no longer in front of you. Now there was a frost giant. A frost giant with freezing blue skin, and piercing red eyes. Your heart rate picked up as you fought the natural urge to slay the beast in front of you. You stared at the eyes. The blood red eyes that seemed to foreign, so dangerous, yet so… Loki. “During the war, Odin stole me from Jotunheim where I had been left to die. He raised me as a relic, hiding the fact that I was a monster, in the hopes that I could be used to bring Asgard and Jotunheim together.”

“Well,” you cautiously began. “It’ll take a brief adjustment period, but… You’re still Loki. You’re still the person I followed all the way to Midgard. Thank you for trusting me.”

“Thank you for not running.” A boom sounded from below you and the pair of you looked down to see three figures on the ground and all of the surrounded trees knocked down. “Ah, looks like we are out of time.”


	13. Chapter 13

You were taken back to the little plane, and you tried to reach out to Thor telepathically, but his mind had too much discord in it for you to get a proper connection. The little plane then took you to a _huge_ plane that even you couldn’t help but gawk at. Both you and Loki were placed in shackles, and Loki was lead off to somewhere else in the ship. Thor grabbed the length of chain holding your hands together, guiding you behind him as he walked through the halls.

You stopped when you got to a room filled with computers and a large table surrounded by chairs on a balcony. Thor sat you down in one of them, tying off your chain to the table. The woman from the little plane came in not long after, followed by Captain and a man in a purple shirt that you hadn’t seen before. The woman tapped on the table a few times, pulling up a video of Loki in his cell. You listened to his and Fury’s conversation, but you didn’t dare try to talk to Thor, not wanting to break the somber silence that filled the room and risk getting even more people mad at you.

“He really grows on you, doesn’t he,” the little man was the first one to speak.

“Loki’s gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what’s his play?” Captain seemed to be the leader of this group of people.

“He has an army called the Chitauri.They’re not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.”

“An army. From outer space,” Captain seemed to be struggling just a bit to come to terms with it all.

“So, he’s building another portal.” You blinked approvingly at the little man in the purple shirt who had figured it out first. “That’s what he needs Erik Selvig for.”

“Selvig?” Thor seemed concerned for the scientist.

“He’s an astrophysicist,” the little man explained.

“He’s a friend,” Thor countered.

“Loki has him under some kind of spell,” Natasha said. “Along with one of ours.”

“You mean Agent Barton?” You immediately regretted opening your mouth as everyone except Thor turned angrily to you. Natasha nodded, her glare not wavering. “He- he’s a good man. Loki chose him because of that. The Stone works best on people with strong character, which it why it took to Barton so quickly. He’s safe, and he’s not injured.”

“Why is she here?”

“We cannot let her and Loki stay together,” Thor explained. “This ship only had one cell, therefore she stays _silently_ with me unless she wants to be disposed of.” You understood Thor’s warning to you for what it was. It seemed like a threat to everyone else, but it was just him telling you to look out for your own skin as of now.

“I want to know why Loki let us take him,” Captain got everyone back onto the most pressing matter. “He’s not leading an army from here.”

“I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki,” the little man interrupted. “That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him.”

“Have care of how you speak,” Thor warned. “Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother.”

“He killed eighty people in two days.”

“He’s adopted.”

“I think it’s about the mechanics,” the little man thought out loud. “Iridium… What do they need the iridium for?”

“It’s a stabilizing agent.” Mister Stark walked into the room. “I’m just saying, pick a weekend. I’ll fly you to Portland. Keep love alive,” he told another man with him. “It means the portal won’t collapse on itself like it did at Shield,” Mister Stark shifted his attention back to the group and he patted Thor’s arm. “No hard feelings, Point Break. You’ve got a mean swing. Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants. Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails. That man is playing _Galaga_. He thought we wouldn’t notice, but we did. How does Fury even see these?”

“He turns.”

“Sounds exhausting.” You and Thor shared a confused look. “The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source or high-energy density. Something to kick-start the Cube.”

“When did you become an expert on thermonuclear astrophysics?” Hill asked.

“Last night.” Hill shot Mister Stark a confused look. “The packet, Selvig’s notes, the extraction theory papers- Am I the only one who did the reading?”

“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Captain asked.

“He would have to heat the Cube to a hundred twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier,” the little man explained.

Mister Stark took over. “Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.”

“Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet.”

“Finally, someone who speaks English.”

Captain looked over at the woman. “Is that what just happened?”

“It’s good to meet you, Doctor Banner,” Mister Stark shook Doctor Banner’s hand. “Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled. And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”

“Thanks…”

“Doctor Banner is only here to track the Cube,” Fury strode in, shooting you a quick glare. “I was hoping you might join him.”

“I’d start with that stick of his,” Captain offered. “It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon.”

“I don’t know about that, but it is powered by the Cube,” Fury said. “And I’d like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.”

“Monkeys?” Thor asked. “I do not understand.”

“I do,” Captain interjected. “I understood that reference.”

Mister Stark turned to Doctor Banner. “Shall we play, Doctor?”

“This way, sir.” They turned and walked out of the room, and everyone else went back to their respective tasks.

“(Y/N),” Thor sat down in the chair next to you. “Why are you and Loki doing this? What has driven you to such madness?”

Before you answered, you pulled Thor in for a hug, holding him close as silent tears fell down your cheeks. “It’s been so long. I’ve missed you, Thor. I’ve missed Asgard. How are you, how is Frigga?”

“We are all fine, (Y/N), but we need to know why Loki has waged war on this planet. Why _you_ have waged war on this planet.”

“It’s mind control. On the anniversary of Loki’s ‘death’ I went down to where the Bifrost was broken.” Thor nodded. “I slipped and fell over the edge. I thought I was going to die, but I landed in Thanos’ palace. That’s where I found Loki again, but he didn’t remember me at all. There was also something strange about the palace… It looked exactly like Asgard. My guess it that Thanos or one of his priests raided Loki’s mind to create the best environment to coax him into helping. But when we were sent here, a spell was cast on Loki. It took his feelings of betrayal and hatred for you and Asgard and amplified them. The Stone that Loki carries keeps the spell in place. I have a counter-spell working, but it’s very strong and dark magic.” Thor nodded again, starting to turn away. “And that’s not all. I also think that they changed Loki’s memories. Like I said, he didn’t remember me when I arrived, but he says that you threw him off of the Bifrost. You told me he fell.”

“So he is not doing any of this of his own volition?”

“No. I’m trying to protect him, trying to _help_ him, but I have to do it without breaking his trust. I don’t want to attack Earth, I don’t even want to be here. I have to protect him. I will do my best to keep the killing to a minimum, but when he escapes, I need you to let me go with him. Can you do that?” Thor looked skeptical. You knew that he didn’t want to lose you or Loki again. “Thor, if there’s any hope for Loki I am going to have to be with him.”

“Alright, sister. I will do my best.”

“Thank you, brother.”


	14. Chapter 14

Thor was called away after a few minutes, leaving you tied up at the table and trusting that you wouldn’t break free yet. Not until you needed to. And you didn’t have to wait long. An explosion shook the airship and the room you were in descended into chaos. A voice came over some sort of amplifier. “All hands to stations.”

“External detonation. Number three engine is down!” Hill barked. “Can they get it running? Talk to me,” she addressed the last statement to one of the agents, until her gaze raked across you. “Someone get her detained!” A flood of agents came rushing towards you. You quickly snapped the chains keeping you tied to the table, holding out your hands in front of you and calling up you magic. A moment later and everyone was returning to their previous tasks. You sighed a breath of relief. If all went well, you wouldn’t have to do any killing to escape. You summoned a cloaking spell around yourself and started running through the halls, locked on to Loki’s magic signature.

A faint roaring echoed throughout the ship. You took a breath, running faster and reaching out to Thor’s mind. /Find the beast, brother. The humans won’t be able to beat it/ You instructed him.

/Very well. Find Loki. Keep him safe/

You sent a confirmation through the link before severing it and locking back onto Loki’s signature. You hoped Thor would be careful. Running into the room with Loki’s cell, you saw that he was staring at the entrance, smiling. “It’s about time, love. I would have thought you were faster.”

“I had some stuff to take care of. Give me just a minute more and you’ll be out.” Loki nodded and you walked over to the control panel. Casting a small spell, you let it guide your fingers as it fed you the security codes and told you which buttons to press. “There you go, no need for you to whine about it,” you teased as the doors opened.

“I never doubted you for a moment.” You smiled at Loki and watched as something fluttered through his gaze. You would have to check on your memory charm to see what had changed. But that could wait until you were off of this ship and somewhere safe. Loki’s attention was suddenly drawn away as someone rapidly approached the cell. He shoved you aside, throwing a cloaking spell over the both of you and placing an illusion of himself within the cell.

“No!” Thor yelled as he ran towards the image of the cell door opening and releasing Loki. The fake Loki braced for impact as Thor ran through it, landing harshly inside of the cell. The real Loki uncloaked himself and quickly closed the cell door again.

“Are you ever _not_ going to fall for that?” Loki smirked. You shifted against the wall, careful to not undo Loki’s spell on you. Whatever it was for, you were sure that Loki had a plan. You trusted him. Thor wound up, striking Mjolnir against the glass and creating a crack. “The humans think us immortal,” Loki continued. “Should we test that?” Your heart beat a little faster as Loki removed the covering of the release button.

A grunt and thud sounded from the side, and the three of you looked over to see Agent Coulson standing on the walkway standing over a now dead officer, an impressive looking weapon in his hand. “Move away please,” he said. You saw as Loki’s curiosity got the better of him and he moved away. Agent Coulson gestured to the weapon. “You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don’t know what it does.” He powered up the machine. “Do you want to find out?” You sensed as Loki set an illusion and he teleported behind Agent Coulson, sheathing the scepter within his chest.

“No!” Thor’s voice was caked with grief. The illusion faded and Agent Coulson slumped against the wall. Loki crossed back over to the control panel, opening the hole in the floor. Your mind was racing as you watched the turn of events. Thor was Loki’s brother, adopted or not. Surely… Surely this was a family quarrel and Loki wouldn’t _actually_ kill Thor.

Right?

Loki looked at Thor again, dropping him without hesitation.

“ _NO_!” You let out a string of colorful curses, most of them aimed at Loki. You flung spell after spell at Thor until one landed, willing the cell to twist so that he could escape. That was all you could do for him now.

“You’re going to lose,” Agent Coulson said as you were working.

“Am I?”

“It’s in your nature.”

“Hmm.”

“Your heroes are scattered. Your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?”

“You lack conviction.”

“I don’t think I’m-” A blast came out of the weapon in Agent Coulson’s lap, shooting a fireball straight into Loki’s chest as you turned away from throwing spells.

“So that’s what it does.”

“What in Odin’s name did you do, Son of Coul!” You spat at Agent Coulson. Throwing a healing spell at him, you raced off towards Loki. “If you had given me another minute- You humans always getting in the way- _argh_!” Loki was not doing well. A fireball that size would have taken out even the best of Asgard’s warriors. But Loki was Jotun. You called forth your magic, placing your hands over the wound and cause Loki to cry out in pain. “I know, love, I know. I’m going to heal you, you are going to be alright.”

Loki chuckled in his half-conscious state. “You called me ‘love.’” You sighed and took one hand away to run it through his hair.

“Well, don’t let it go to your head because once your back on your feet, I have a few choice words to say to you.” Loki smiled, reaching up to cup your cheek.

“But you ~love~ me!”

“Yes I do, you bastard.” You blushed at finally saying it out loud. “You’re lucky I know you won't remember this, it’s all clouded up by the pain and you aren’t thinking straight.”

“I love you, too.”

Your heart froze and you momentarily stopped the healing spell. You were brought back to reality as Loki groaned again. “Just like I said, the pain is making you say silly things.”

“But it’s not silly,” Loki pouted. “I _do_ love you. I remember you! You told me you were a maid, but you weren’t,” he teased, “You grew up with me, Mother taught us magic and we trained together. We played pranks on Thor and the idiots three. A guard started courting you and I got jealous… You broke it off for me.” Loki’s face dropped from playful teasing to a state of worry and confusion. “You told me not to do anything stupid. I never did listen to your advice…” Loki let out a mangled scream and clutched his head, laughing when the pain subsided. “He doesn’t want me to tell you that I remember you. I did a bad thing, and now he is going to punish me,” Loki’s voice slipped back into teasing, fear at the very edges of it.

You shook off your shock and returned to healing. A moment later and you finished, looking up to see that Loki’s eyes had cleared and he was looking around, slightly confused. “What happened?” He asked.

“You got injured.”

“No,” Loki’s eyes darkened as some memories returned. “You saved Thor.”

“Well, yes.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I love Thor. I don’t want him to die.” Fury and hurt flashed in Loki’s eyes.

“So you’re choosing him over me?! I should have known you would betray me, you mewling quim! How long have the two of you been plotting against me?!”

“No, Loki! I saved his life, that is all!”

“ _LIES_!” Loki roared, and you found yourself legitimately afraid of him. You scooted away from the god, and he seemed to hesitate for an instant. “You are not worthy of my time.” Loki stood in one swift movement and stalked out of the room.

A rattling breath came from Agent Coulson and you crawled over to him. “Hey, stay awake for me. I won’t let you die. Not now.” You put a hand on the stab wound, calling the rest of your magic. You cursed when it didn’t heal immediately. Stab wounds were easy. You had healed them on Thor all the time when you were younger and Loki got angry. You had already used so much power healing Loki, you just hoped that you had enough left. “I’m sorry for everything Loki has done. And I’m sorry for what I have done. I was just trying to do the right thing. I wanted to protect Loki and get him back to Asgard safely. I didn’t think of the damage we would do to your world, Agent.”

“Phil.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“My name is Phil Coulson. I know that Stark meant it as a joke, but I think you might actually believe that Agent Coulson is my name. I don’t want you to look bad in front of the others since you’re our best chance at stopping Loki,” Coulson chuckled.

“Phil,” you tried the name out, shoving the last of your magic into him and sitting back. “Thank you.”

Fury came rushing into the room, immediately drawing his weapon and firing two blasts at you when he saw you crouched over Coulson. You hissed in pain, frustrated when you didn’t have enough power to heal yourself. “Wait, boss. She’s okay.”

“How do I know that you’re not one of their zombies?” Fury countered.

“Check his eyes,” you said. “When under Loki’s control, the eyes are the same icy blue as the Mind Stone.” Fury looked wary, but he put his weapon away and checked Coulson’s eyes, sighing when he saw that he was okay.

“We need to tell the rest of the team that Loki has escaped,” Fury started to get up, but Coulson stopped him.

“This team… The Avengers. It’s a nice name, got a good ring to it. But it means that they aren’t going to work together unless they have someone to avenge.” Fury nodded slowly and you caught on to what Coulson was saying.

“Well then, high and mighty ‘goddess-’” Fury began.

“I am a goddess.”

“Whatever you are, I need to introduce you to what’s left of the team.”


	15. Chapter 15

“What the _fuck_ is she still doing here?!” Mister Stark launched himself at you when he walked back onto the bridge, despite the fact that he had taken off his armor. His hands wrapped around your neck and you reacted before you could think, tucking your arm under his stomach and using his momentum to fling him over your shoulder and onto the ground. He landed with a groan.

“Oh norns, I am so sorry. Are you alright?” Mister Stark responded by grabbing your ankle and hauling you to the ground, crawling up to sit on your chest and pin you down. You decided to let him think he was in control instead of telling him you could easily throw him off.

Mister Stark sneered down at you and his watch turned into some kind of gauntlet. “What have you done with Bruce and Thor?” The middle of the gauntlet lit up. “And don’t even think about lying to me, you piece of shit.”

“I don’t know who Bruce is, but I promise that Thor is okay. I made sure that he landed as safely as he could.”

“You know damn well who Bruce Banner is.”

“Oh! I thought his first name was Doctor…”

“Bullshit!” Mister Stark wound up his fist and launched it into your nose. “Why did you kill Coulson?”

“I didn’t! I tried to save him!”

“ _Liar_! You killed him!” Mister Stark charged his blaster once again, but you knocked it out of the way, flipping so that you were straddling his stomach and using one hand to pin his head to the ground.

“Call me a liar again,” you furiously hissed into his ear, “and you will find yourself without a tongue to accuse people with. I am (Y/N) of Asgard, goddess of memories, stability, and truth, and if you insult me like that again I will not hesitate to gut you where you stand. Do you understand me, mortal?” He nodded as best he could and you let him up, enjoying the way he scrambled to get to the chair furthest away from you.

You calmly stood up, smoothing out the leather of your armor as you took a seat at the table, your gaze challenging anyone who dared defy you. “These,” Fury interrupted your challenge, “Were in Phil Coulson’s jacket. I guess he did never get you to sign them.” Fury tossed a handful of bloody cards towards Captain. “We’re dead in the air up here. Our communications, the location of the Cube, Banner, Thor… I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming. Yes, we were going to build an Arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier.

There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative.The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes.” Mister Stark stood up, walking off to Odin-knows-where. “Well, it’s an old-fashioned notion.” Fury walked out after Mister Stark, leaving you and Captain alone.

Heavy silence covered the two of you. “I’m sorry.” Captain looked up at you. “I am so sorry for the grief that Loki and I have caused your world. I never meant for any of this to happen, I just wanted to get Loki home safe.”

“Why did you come here in the first place?”

“We came for the Tesseract, I thought you-”

“No, why did _you_? I’ve seen you. You don’t attack unless necessary, you don’t kill if you can avoid it. In Germany, when Loki was going to kill that man, you were going to try to stop it. I believe that you want to get Loki home, and I believe that you feel guilt for what has been done. So, knowing that you were going to come for the Tesseract, knowing that Loki had the intent to wage war, why didn’t you get him out before you came?”

“I… I didn’t think it would get this far. Loki- he’s under mind control. This certain spell amplifies his sour feelings towards Thor and Asgard. Thanos, the one who is controlling Loki, is using the Tesseract as an outlet for Loki’s emotion. It’s funny. Loki always condones sentiment, but if you take one good look at him, you’ll see that he’s all emotion. I was hoping that his past - _our_ past could help to break the spell, that I would have gotten him out already, but I’ve failed. And your world has paid the price.”

Captain nodded and collected the cards in front of him. “You have magic?”

“I need to take some time to replenish. And to heal from these wounds. It’ll be a few hours… faster if I can get a nap.”

“Take my room. The sooner we get you back to peak condition the better.” You nodded your thanks, steeling your nerves for the task ahead of you: navigating the airship without magic to guide you.

*

When you woke up, you felt a surge of magic. You immediately locked onto the signature, winding through the halls to the healing wing. “Clint, you’re going to be okay.” You realized then that the surge was Agent Barton - whose name was apparently _Clint_ Barton, damn humans with too many names - fighting off the Mind Stone.

“You know that,” Barton chuckled. “Is that what you know? I’ve got no window. I have to flush him out.” You debated going in. You could tell that your magic was restored, and you knew that you could help get rid of the lasting effects of the Mind Stone, but… You were also pretty sure that you wouldn’t be welcome.

“You got to level out,” the woman explained. “It’s gonna take time.”

“You don’t understand. Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Pull you out and stuff something else in? Do you know what it’s like to be unmade?”

“You know that I do.”

“Why am I back? How’d you get him out?”

“Cognitive recalibration. I hit you really hard in the head.”

“Thanks… Natasha… How many agents did I-”

“Don’t. Don’t do that to yourself, Clint. This is Loki. This is monsters and magic, and nothing we were ever trained for.”

“Loki, did he get away?”

“Yeah. I don’t suppose you know where.”

“I didn’t need to know. I didn’t ask. He’s gonna make his play soon, though. Today.”

“We got to stop him.”

“Yeah? Who’s we?”

“I don’t know. Whoever’s left.” You took a breath and turned so that you were standing in the doorway.

“That would be Mister Stark, Captain, you two, and… me,” you said. Both of the assassins immediately tensed up, and you held your hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry for the pain that I have caused both of you. I know that you have no reason to trust me - Hel, I would be worried if you _did_ trust me - but right now, the Stone’s power still had control. If you get near the scepter, Loki won’t have any trouble making you into a… what did Fury say… zombie!” You got too excited at using a Midgardian word, and you had to school it back when you saw the looks they were giving you. “Sorry… I’m the goddess of memory, stability, and truth. I can get rid of the last of its effects.” You chewed your lip nervously as Barton and the woman shared a look. Please, if they would just let you help them- Barton nodded and you sighed.

You took a seat in front of him, resting your hands on his temples as you dove into his mind. It was a mess. You carefully put everything back together, being sure to pull out any dark magic that was still lingering there and disposing of it. It took a little longer than you would have hoped, but you wanted to make sure that you did it properly. You had a lot of work to do if you every wanted these people to trust you.

You carefully exited his mind, opening your eyes and lowering your hands back into your lap. Barton blinked a few times before looking at you and giving you a curt nod. He still didn’t trust you, and with good reason, but this was a step in the right direction.


	16. Chapter 16

“(Y/N), suit up.”

You looked up from where you were sitting at the table in the bridge - the one place you knew how to actually get to in this place - to see Captain standing in front of you. “Where are we going?”

“Stark figured out where Loki is. It’s time to take him down.” You nodded and stood up, walking towards Captain, but he put an arm out to stop you. “Are you sure that you’re good for this? I know how you feel towards Loki, and if that is going to put any of us at risk-”

“I’ll be fine, Captain. Loki needs to be stopped.” He nodded and you let your traditional Asgardian armor shimmer into place, relishing the feel of it again after so long in the disgusting armor from Thanos. This is who you were.

A soldier of Asgard.

You followed Captain, meeting up with Barton and the woman - damn, you really needed to learn her name - and the four of you walked over to one of the little planes.

“Hey, you guys aren’t authorized to be in here,” one of the low-level agents said.

“Son,” Captain interrupted, “Just don’t.” The agent nodded nervously and scurried out of the plane. Barton and the woman took their places up front while you and Captain hovered just behind them. The plane lurched forward and you stumbled a little until Captain reached out to steady you. “Here,” he said, handing you a small device. “You’re gonna want this.” You took the device, seeing an identical one hooked around his ear, and you followed suit. “It’s a communications link. It’ll let us talk to each other during battle.” You nodded, thinking how telepathy was much easier before remembering that humans didn’t have magic.

As you got closer to the city, you felt the magic of the Tesseract spike, and you feared the worst. Your fears were confirmed as a beam of energy shot into the sky, opening a portal for the Chitauri to come through. “Fly faster.”

“Stark, we’re on your three, headed northeast,” the woman said.

“What? Did you stop for drive-through?! Swing up park. I’m gonna lay ‘em out for you.” The woman maneuvered the plane through the city, locking the guns onto a line of Chitauri and taking them out. She continued until you approached a large building, and when you looked out you saw Thor and Loki fighting.

“Nat,” Barton said.

“I see him.” She swung around, shooting the plane’s weapons at Loki, but he took it out with one blast of the Mind Stone. The woman - Nat - kept the plane aloft for as long as she could, but she had to crash it in an open clearing. At the last second, you put a shield around the cockpit, keeping the four of you safe during impact. You then blasted the hatch open, following Captain as he lead you out of the plane.

“We’ve got to get back up there,” he said as you finally saw exactly what you had helped Loki accomplish. The four of you ran towards the Stark tower, pausing as you watched the first of the Whales come through the portal. It flew closer to the ground, releasing foot soldiers from crevices in its armor. “Stark, are you seeing this?”

“Seeing. Still working on believing. Where’s Banner? Has he shown up yet?”

“Banner?”

“Just keep me posted.”

The new wave of cavalry started approaching you, and your small group all pulled out your weapons. “Barton, check nearby for any civilians. Natasha and (Y/N), you’re with me,” Captain instructed. You nodded, twirling your lance around a few times to get used to it again. Three Chitauri launched themselves at you, and you swung your lance around in an arc, cutting them clean in half. Another approached behind you, shooting a blast that grazed your side before you lashed out with your lance.

“Natasha!” You hurled your lance forward, making a Chitauri kebab with the four that were starting to overpower her. Summoning up your magic, you sent out a shockwave, knocking everyone to the ground. From there, you used crackling bolts of magic to kill the wave you were fighting. “Sorry,” you told Natasha and Captain as they got up. They just shrugged in indifference. If it could wipe out that many of the enemy at once, they could take one fall.

“We’ve got civilians still trapped up here,” Barton said through the link.

You looked up as someone flew by. “Loki,” Captain said. The two Chitauri following him rained down blasts of pure energy, leaving chaos in their wake. “They’re fish in a barrel down there.” New blasts shot into your cover as a fresh wave of Chitauri discovered your hiding spot. Natasha stood up, firing off two blasts before ducking back down.

“We got this,” she told Captain. “It’s good. Go.”

“Do you think you can hold them off?” Captain seemed hesitant to leave.

“Captain,” Barton said. “It would be my genuine pleasure. Plus, we got her,” he gestured to you and you gave a small wave. Captain nodded, running off. Barton drew one of his arrows, firing it straight into the face of a Chitauri. Natasha fired out of both of her weapons as Barton ran over to a large vehicle, helping civilians out while you made a shield-tunnel for them to run through away from the fight. Barton wrenched the doors of the vehicle open before running to help Natasha cover your back.

“Just like Budapest all over again.”

“You and I remember Budapest very differently.” You cast a confused glance over your shoulder, but got distracted as shots started coming down in front of you. Letting out a curse, you took one hand away from the shield in order to shoot the Chitauri down from the sky. The people finished running into the buildings, and you vanished the shield, turning back to help Natasha and Barton. Your lance was lost to the rubble, so you used magic to grasp as many Chitauri as you could, slamming them down into the ground. Grabbing one of their guns, you shot more of the groundlings, not wanting to use all of your magic up too fast. Captain came hurdling back onto the bridge, taking another Chitauri with him.

As more converged upon you, lightning shot down from the sky, killing all that you could see. Thor came crashing down moments later. “What’s the story upstairs?” Captain asked.

“The power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable,” Thor explained.

“Thor’s right,” Stark’s voice came over the comms. “We got to deal with these guys.”

“How do we do this,” Natasha asked.

“As a team,” Captain responded.

“I have unfinished business with Loki,” Thor said.

“Yeah,” Barton countered. “Well, get in line.”

“Save it,” Captain instructed. “Loki’s going to keep this fight focused on us, and that’s what we need. Without him, these things could run wild. We got Stark up top. He’s going to need us to-” You cut Captain off, gesturing to an approaching vehicle behind him. When it got close enough, you saw that it was Banner. The group walked over to meet him.

“So, this all seems horrible,” Banner said.

“I’ve seen worse,” Natasha responded.

“Sorry.”

“No, we could use a little worse.”

“Stark, we got him,” Captain addressed the comms.

“Banner?”

“Just like you said.”

“Then tell him to suit up. I’m bringing the party to you.” Stark flew around the corner, the Whale not two seconds behind him. Thor snarled, readying Mjolnir.

“I don’t see how that’s a party,” Natasha said. Stark flew the Whale against the ground, coming to you quickly.

“Doctor Banner,” Captain said. “Now might be a really good time for you to get angry.”

“That’s my secret, Captain. I’m always angry.” Banner turned to the Whale, growing incredibly tall while also turning green. He smashed his fist into the face of the Whale, pinning it to the ground as its momentum send the back of it over itself. Stark sent some devices to keep it from flattening you as Natasha hid with Captain under his shield and you threw one up over Thor, Barton, and yourself. The Whale collapsed and the seven of you formed a kill circle, the Chitauri’s screams echoing around you.

“Guys,” Natasha warned as the rest of you looked towards the portal to see the rest of Loki’s army coming through.

“Call it, Captain,” Stark said.

“All right, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof. Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash.”

“Can you give me a lift?”

“Right. Better clench up, Legolas.”

“Thor, you got to try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up.” Thor nodded, swinging Mjolnir and taking to the skies. Captain gestured to you and Natasha. “You and me, we stay here on the ground. We keep the fighting here. And Hulk-” Hulk snarled. “Smash.” He smiled and launched himself to the side of a building.

Lightning converged on top of one of the buildings before shooting at an incoming Whale. You silently wished Thor to be safe. “Stark, you got a lot of strays sniffing your tail,” Bartons voice came over the comms. Five Chitauri flew over you and you used magic to shoot up through them, gutting them instantly.

“I’m just trying to keep them off the streets.” Bodies came crashing down and you hugged Natasha to you as you shielded her.

“Well, they can’t bank worth a damn. Find a tight corner.”

“I will roger that.”

Your attention was drawn back to reality as Natasha was hurled up against one of the cars. You fired a blast at the Chitauri, throwing it off of her long enough for her to grab its spear and shoot it down. Captain came over the railing and both of you whirled on him, ready to fight. “Captain, none of this is going to mean a damn thing if we don’t close that portal,” Natasha said.

“Our biggest guns couldn’t touch it.”

“Well, maybe it’s not about guns.” More Chitauri landed on the far side of the bridge.

“If you want to get up there, you’re going to need a ride.”

“I got a ride. I could use a boost, though.” She crossed to the other side of the bridge, preparing herself.

“Are you sure about this?” Captain caught on and braced his shield for the coming impact. The Chitauri came closer and you started picking off the closest ones with a gun you had taken off one of the bodies.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be fun.”

“Whatever you’re going to do, I suggest you do it quickly, please,” you said. Natasha took a running start, jumping onto Captain shield as he pushed her up and she grabbed onto one of the Chitauri’s fliers. You sent up a boost of magic to help her crawl the rest of the way on. A blast got past you, landing on the pole next to Captain. “Captain. A little help, if you would.” He nodded and you dropped your magic enough for a few of them to run past you. The rest you took care of as quickly as you could. You could feel your magic starting to drain.

Stark came down from the sky, blasting a few of the Chitauri and giving a prolonged blast at Captain’s shield to make an arc of death before flying off again. A shot came from behind you, hitting your left leg and blowing your prosthetic off. You cursed as you hit the ground, throwing out a wave of magic to take out the surrounding Chitauri and keep you relatively safe for now. “Fuck!” You borrowed the Midgardian curse, searching around to see if the prosthetic had survived. A small pile of mangled metal told you it had not. “Mister Stark, I don’t suppose you have any fake left legs lying around?”

“ _What_?!” Thor’s voice boomed in your ear. “You lost a leg?!”

“Yeah, but it was a while ago that I lost my flesh one, nothing to whine about now. But I really need a new prosthetic if I’m to be any help during the rest of this battle. I have a base attached below my knee, I just need something to prop me up. It doesn’t need to be fancy.”

“Jarvis is sending something right now, Hiccup. He should be able to figure out how to attach to the base.”

“My name is (Y/N), but thank you, Mister Stark.”

“I know what your name is, it’s a- Nevermind. Just stay safe until it gets there.” Barely a moment later and something small and red was flying towards you. It slowed and readjusted as it reached you, and you could hear things adjusting as it properly attached itself to your body. “That’s from the Mark Four, so it should be okay.” You thanked Stark again before hauling yourself up and taking a few steps. You could already tell that this leg was way better than your old one could have ever been. Especially since you had seen the blasters embedded in the bottom of the foot. This would be fun. You sent spikes of magic through the hearts of three Chitauri, sorely missing your lance. You would be sure to get it back before you went home.

“Captain, the bank on 42nd past Madison. They’ve cornered a lot of civilians in there,” Barton told Captain.

“I’m on it. (Y/N), with me.” You nodded and the two of you raced to where the civilians were, taking out Chitauri along the way. A Whale was coming down a street that you turned onto, and you nodded at Captain to keep going. He raced forward as you drew magic. You waited for it’s throat to be right above you before spearing it and having its own momentum drag the spike down the length of its body. When you finally made it to the building, you saw Captain being thrown out of a window and you threw out a cushioning spell to ease his fall. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“Hawkeye!” Natasha called through the comm.

“Nat, what are you doing?”

“A little help?” There was a slight pause before Barton replied.

“I got him.”

An explosion sounded a few streets away. You looked over to Captain for permission and he nodded. “You and Thor are our best bets of taking Loki down. Go.” You teleported to Loki’s magic signature just in time to see him stand up and brush broken glass off of himself.

“Loki, stop this. Stop this madness, _please_.”

“(Y/N),” Natasha called, “I need the scepter.” You teleported it up with a wave of irritation. You needed to talk to Loki.

“Loki, turn around and talk to me. You’re under mind control, you need to stop this.”

Loki refused to face you. “Why? So you can take me to Asgard and let me rot in a cell? No, Thanos will get the Tesseract, and then the Earth will be mine to rule.”

“No, Loki. Thanos has been lying to you. He has sifted through your mind, changed your memories. Your mind is so full of dark magic I don’t know how you can still function as yourself most of the time.”

“Because this is who I am! You just refuse to accept that! And besides, how would you know unless you have rooted through my mind?!” Loki snapped around to look at you. He took a breath like he was going to launch into a tirade, but he faltered when he saw your now-red leg. “What happened?”

“Oh, one of your soldiers just _blew my old one off_ , thank you very much.”

“You shouldn’t have betrayed me,” Loki growled. “Then they wouldn’t be attacking you and you wouldn’t be getting hurt!”

“My leg is the least of my worries! I also have broken bones and cuts and bruises! And I lost my lance!” Loki groaned and with a wave of his hand the pendant form of your lance appeared on your neck.

“That won't activate until after the battle is over, hypocrite.”

“Well, thank you for it anyway, stubborn prick.” You and Loki stood in silence, brooding at each other as sounds of the battle went off in the distance.

“Get on with it, will you? Aren’t you going to beg me to stop? Appeal to my humanity?”

“No,” you told him. “I’m going to show you what our actions have done.” You crossed over to where Loki was standing, placing your palm on his forehead and showing him the bodies of civilians, decimated buildings, and children crying in the street. You showed him as Chitauri shot down families and killed those who clearly showed no threat. You showed him everything. “Killing is different in the heat of battle when your life is on the line,” you told Loki when you brought him out. “But you sit safe in the air while these animals come to slaughter innocent and harmless people. I helped you get this far, and I am going to help this stop.”

Before you could do anything, the Hulk crashed through a window, grabbing Loki’s ankle and slamming him repeatedly into the floor. You screamed in horror, hearing as most of Loki’s bones broke. Hulk threw Loki down one more time, saying “Puny god,” as he jumped back off the balcony. You rushed over to Loki, healing him just enough to stay alive until you could get him home. No, you didn’t want Loki to be injured at all, but you couldn’t risk him getting back up and running off.

“I can close it,” Natasha’s voice pulled you back to reality. “Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down.”

“Do it!” Captain called.

“No, wait,” Stark said.

“Stark, these things are still coming.”

“I got a nuke coming in. It’s gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it.”

“Stark, you know that’s a one-way trip.” Silence from Stark’s comm. You walked out onto the balcony, watching Stark maneuver the nuke up and into the portal.

_Let go. Let go and come back down, you overconfident twat_. The Chitauri and Whales fell as a muffled explosion happened above you. _Come on, come on!_

“Close it.”

Natasha plunged the scepter into the Cube and the portal started to close. _Just a little further and…_ You could feel Stark fall into your magic range, and using the last of your power, you grabbed him and yanked him through the portal just as it closed, staggering slightly at the effort.

“Son of a gun.”

“He’s not slowing down. Sister!”

“I’m out of magic!”

Hulk came flying out of nowhere, catching Stark and using a building to slow his decent enough. You breathed a sigh of relief, returning to where Loki was unconscious on the floor. Hulk’s roars rang through the city and you hoped that meant that Stark was okay. You smiled when Stark, Captain, Barton, Natasha, Thor, and Hulk appeared upstairs at Stark Tower. Loki groaned next to you and turned over, using the stairs to haul himself up. When he turned back around, he saw the seven of you standing over him. “If it’s all the same to you,” Loki addressed Stark, “I’ll have that drink now.”


End file.
